OneGuyFromBarlick

Just driven along our lane and there were approx 10 deer all happily grazing in a field alongside the road. Only an approx as I was driving and couldn't do a head count.

Oh damn, drat and bother.... I'm so jealous Gloria, you lucky thing!! Enjoy

I was surprised how close they were as there is plenty of grass for them around here, usually in summer we don't see much of them.

Hubby & I have been quite amused today, we have a hanging basket bracket by the kitchen window and for the past few days a collared dove has taken to sitting on it calling for its mate. Today they have begun trying to build a nest between the bracket & the wall - most of the twigs are on the drive!! A couple of years ago they began building a nest in our cherry tree but never got it finished.

The resident Jackdaws are back in strength this morning in East Hill Street. Do they migrate?

Ours seem to be around all year.

Must be just the impeding change in the weather. I'd say they were arguing about nest sites. Perhaps sex is rearing its ugly head.....

I have a garden full of ibis, spoonbills and white faced heron this morning; all digging in the grass.

Exotic Liz. Remind me of where you are, I forget.

We live about 70km south of Melbourne on the Mornington Peninsula Stanley. We have 2 acres backing onto a state park that has a creek running through it; hence all the water birds wandering in to our place. I've tried to take a photo but every time I open the door they all fly away!!

They showed some data on Springwatch last night. Inward migration of swallows is on a level with last year, House Martins are slightly down. Both species a tad later.

Although there are problems for bees and the numbers are declining we're doing our bit by playing host to a colony of Tree Bumblebees (Bombus hypnorum) in our porch roof. There's lots of loud buzzing as the bees fan their wings to keep down the temperature and they're flitting in and out all the time. They don't do us any harm and are entertaining to watch. I'd not heard of the Tree Bumblebee before but they are relatively new to the UK, being common on the Continent.
http://www.opalexplorenature.org/TreeBumblebee

Ecxellent Tiz. We are fairly sure that the bumble bee inspecting a hole in the soil of our garden when I was teraforming it has not ultimately taken up residence. Not for want of trying though, it spent quite afew days inspecting the hole. We have not seen it for a while now though. I like bees, as long as they are not in my roof space!

Or bee's in your wall cavity Pan Biker. A few years ago I lived in a home that had a bay window in the lounge and a lovely yellow flowering bush of some sort out the front of it (full of pollen). I remember walking into the lounge one morning, and instead of the usual sunlight streaming thru, I was looking at a dark window, it took me a few seconds to realise the difference. The bees were going from the bush to my roof and down into the wall cavity, I could hear them buzzing away from the inside of the room, very scarey. We had to call the council to investigate and it took them 3 attempts to get rid of them. I cut the bush back to ground level immediately and made sure it didn't grow any higher again.

Bees aren't so bad. Wasps and hornets can be dangerous.

When I had 50,000+ in my roof space and wall cavity I was told by the gent from the bee keeping association that it's not the bees that are the problem it's all the other insects that follow to share the bees productivity. Not a good prospect, plus of course there was the few hundred that managed to make it through into the living space and the constant drone in the attic bedroom. Very unnerving for my daughter who took to sleeping on the couch downstairs until it was all sorted. All completely avoidable of course if you can capture the Queen during the transit gathering stage after swarming to their new chosen location.

Glad we are not the only ones having problems with bees we came home and found them in the boxed in part of the guttering. Not causing any problems at the moment we have sent for a rentokil spray foam. Didn't they say there was a reduction in bees? We are not the only ones with this problem in our area. Eileen

Eileen, a word of warning, bees are a protected species and you need dispensation from the British Bee Keepers association to destroy them. UK pest firms will not deal with bees without written confirmation. This applies to all bee colonies, wild and managed. It's a specialist job and you could end up biting off more than you could chew trying to deal with it yourself. Get some advice before you proceed any further.

Ian will do, don't look like bees to me they look like wasps and we have had them in the same place before. Eileen

If they are wasps, you may be able to get your local council to deal with them. Try giving them a ring. One thing is certain you need to determine exactly what you are dealing with before you proceed.

Thanks again Ian thats Dave's department. Eileen

Wise words from Ian, as usual. Eileen have a look at this web page for distinguishing between wasps and bees:
http://www.wikihow.com/Identify-Wasps

Wasps are generally on the sundry pest list along with fleas, cockroaches, rat's, mice and other miscellaneous stuff that can infest your property. Your council will advise if they can deal with it. Speak to the Environmental Health Department, you may well get the job done as part of your Community Charge. If it's a re-infestation you need to block off the point of access once you are sorted to deter further incursions.

You a right about the reduction in the bee population. The species have been hit with a virus over the last couple of decades which has decimated the population numbers. Bees are a hidden workforce for the nation, I forget what percentage of GDP they are responsible for but it is quire substantial.

Mrs Tiz's parents once had a wasps nest behind an air brick in the house wall. Dad decided he would use the vacuum cleaner to suck out the wasps. He was gung-ho about it until Mum asked "And what will you do once you've got them in the vacuum cleaner?"

A good question Tiz. A good way of dealing with a wasp nest was to spray them with the contents of one of the old fire extiguishers which are now banned. They contained a liquid closely related to dry cleaning fluid.